Bottle-capping machine.



H. E. MARSHALL. BOTTLE GAPPING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 25, 1908.

964,925. Patented July 19,1910.

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H. E. MARSHALL. BOTTLE GAPPING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED new, 1908.

Patented July 19, 1910.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT E. MARSHALL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T0 HENRY W. AYL'WARD,

OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. I

BOTTLE-CAPPING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July '19, 1910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT E. MARSHALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at the borough of Brooklyn, city of New York, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Bottle Capping Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, forming part thereof.

My invention relates to bottlecapping machines and particularly to machines which employ spinning rollers to spin on the caps. In machines of this class the spinning rollers are commonly made to spin continuously and very rapidly, and for the capping operation the cap and bottle-head arebrought into contact wit-h the rapidly spinning rollers. This, however, has not proved a satisfactory method for applying such caps as the crown and similar caps on bottles having a comparatively small mouth, as for example, beer bottles.

One object of my invention is to overcome the difficulties which have been encountered in this respect; and my invention is therefore particularly applicable to capping beer bottles and similar bottles, although, of course, it may be employed in any instance to apply caps having a depending flange:

Other objects of my invention-are reliability, simplicity and facility of. operation.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear from the following description.

Instead of bringing the bottle-head into contact with the spinning head and continuously spinning rollers, 1 reverse the opera; tion and bring the spinning head into coritact with the bottle-head, thereby causing,

the spinning rollers to rotate and spin on the cap. To rotate the rollers as the spinninghead is brought into contact with the bottlehead, I employ the ordinary screw and nut movement to convert rectilinear motion into circular motion. Instead of requiring prolonged spinning, as do caps which are applied by forming an inset ring to grip un der a shoulder of the neck'of the bottle, it"is' essential to the successful application of the crown and similar caps WhlCll are to be removed in the well known manner, that the rollers rotate substantially but once around the cap, and my invention includes means As shown in Fig. 1, the spinning head is I secured to the reciprocating plunger, and moves with it. In the center of the spinning -head is the vertical screw 1, which has a spline and groove connected with the head support 2, as shown, to prevent the screw from turning on a vertical axis, while allowing it toslide'vertically in the support. The

enlarged head 3 prevents the screw from passing entirely withm the support, and

thus separating the parts carried by the screw and those attached to the support. A nut 4: of brass or other suitable material coacts with the screw 1 and has a ring 5 at its upper end shown as screwed on, although it may be secured in any suitable way or made integral with the nut. Attached to' the frame 2 is a sleeve 6 having broad s iral grooves 7, the same pitch as the threa s'of the vertical screw 1 the upper edges of which grooves are inclined as shown and serve as the part commonly called the cone, in that they force inward the cap engaging spinning rollers. An annular space 8 isleft between thesleeve 6 and .the nut 4: for a purpose which will appear presently. The up per portion of the sleeve 6, however, for a distance equal to'the widthof'the ring 5, is shouldered so as to contact with the ring. Between this portion of the sleeve and the ring 5 is provided a ball race 9. It is evident now that as the support 2 is reciprocated, the sleeve Gand the nut 4 are. carried along with the support; and if the screw 1 is prevented from traveling along, as by contact with a bottle-head during the downward stroke,- the'threads of the nut 4, engaging with those of the screw 1, cause the nut to be rotated.

' hea support 2 and the parts carried by it are reciprocated. A collar 12 is pinned to the reduced end of the screw beneath the collar 10 and holds the collar 10 and the sleeve 11 in place against the shoulder of the screw.

The nut 4 is provided with keys 14, preferably two diametrically opposite, as shown in Fig. 2, and the sleeve 11 is provided with longitudinal grooves 13 within which the keys 14 are adapted to slide. These parts are so proportioned in len h that the keys 14 are in enga ement in t e rooves 13 in all positions 0 the parts, t us causing the sleeve 11 and the collar 10 to rotate with the nut 4, in all relative positions thereof.

The collar 10 is rovided on its periphery with four pairs of lugs or cars lfi'between which are mounted the spinning mechanism. These consist of the usual spinning rollers 16 each suitabl carried on an arm 17 having a hub 18' an an adjusting fin er 19. Mounted on a common pivot with t e hub 18 is the hub 21 and integral with the hub 21 and extending between the adjusting finger 19 and the sleeve or cone 6, is the bearing block or finger 20, the inner face of which bears against thesleeve or cone 6 as shown. The sprin 22 is fastened underneath the arm 17 an ,bearing against the collar 10between the ears 15, tends to hold the roller 16 outward and press the fin er 19 against the bearin block 20. An a usting screw 23 in the e of the finger 19 enablesthe fin er to be adju ted to and from the bearing lock, and. consequently provides for adjustment of therollers to and from each other, thus providing means for capping bottles having heads of varying diameters. The buffer head 24 is m the form of a nut 26, screwed upon the lower end of the vertical screw 1 nd havin a bottle ca en a g recess 24 therein at its lower and. g fiic k nut 25 is shown to hold the buffer-head where it is adjusted. This qualit of tlie buffer-head enables it to be ad usts to fit bottle heads of various thickness.

To uniformly maintain the pressure on the top of the bottle during, the capping operat1on,-Ithe head 3015 the screw 1 bears against a spring 27 through a rock-lever 28 having a cam face 29. As the end of the rock-lever which bears against the head 3 is raised, the cam face 29 rolls down over a wheel 30 which is mounted in loose bearings and presses against the spring 27.

Therefore, due to the sha e of the face 29, the pressure exerted by t e spring on the head 3 and hence on the bottle is kept constant. An adjusting screw 31 is provided toincrease or decrease the tension of the spring as desired. This arrangement of the spring is more fully described and is claimed in my previous application for United States Letters Patent under Serial Number 441,182 for improvements in bottle-capping machines.

As previously stated, the spinning head is fastened to thereciprocatin plunger 32. A spline 33 may be provided engaging a groove in the plunger to prevent tendency of the plunger to turn on a vertical axis.

pin 35 in the horizontal shaft 36. A drive wheel 37, driven by power from any suitable source, is loosely mounted on the shaft 36,

and any suitable clutch mechanism may be employed to connect and disconnect the shaft with the drive wheel as desired. I have shown in Fig. 1, and prefer to use for this purpose, a clutch mechanism invented by me and for which 'I have made application for United States Letters Patent under Serial No. 441,183, in which, as used herein, when the connection is. made by pressing down the treadle 38, the clutch is automatically disengaged after one revolution of the shaft 36 irrespective of whether or not the treadle is released.

The bottle rest 39 screws into a sup ort 40 on the front of the column or stan ard 41. The rest 39 may therefore be adjusted vertically to adapt it to be used with bottles of various heights. The gage 42 holds the bottle in place on the rest. A plurality of holes or other means of receiving the gage may be made in the column 41, as shown, thus permitting the gage to be moved accordingly as the bottle rest is adjusted.

From the foregoin description, it will (7 appear that when the bottle is placed on the rest with the cap ready to be spun on as shown in Fig. 1, and the treadle 38 pressed down, the shaft 36 is immediately connected by'the clutch to the drive wheel 37 and is rotated, thereby depressing the pitman 34, the plunger 32 andallof the parts connected-thereto. The bufier-head 24 instantly contacts with the bottle-head and the screw -1 and the collar 10, the spinning rollers and I carrying levers are normally slightly offset from the helical grooves 7, and, because of lost motion between the vertical screw 1 and its nut 4, as hereinafter described, initially mount the inclined faces of the grooves so that the spinning rollers are pressed in until they contact with the bottle-head and then by their rotation spin on the cap. If desired, the edges of the rollers may be scalloped as shown in Fig. 5. Through the spring 27 and the rock lever 28, the pressure on the top ofthe bottle is kept uniform during the entire descent of the plunger and the parts carried by it, as previously described.

About the collar 12 is a volute spring 43, one end of which is fastened to a stud 44 on the collar 10 and the other end is fastened to the collar 12. As the collar 10 is rotated when the plunger descends, the sprin 43 is wound up and tends to retract the spmning mechanism. As shown in Fig. 3 'the threads of the nut and screw fit loosely together and, as soon as the nut reachesits lowest limit, the rollers are reversed asifar as the play of the threads allow. Since the sleeve 6 -meanwhile is held stationary, this has the contact with the bottle-head and cap, the.

object of this being to prevent the rollers from binding on the cap and carrying the;

bottle alon as the nut ascends the screw and the r0 lers are turned in the opposite direction.

While the pitch of the threads may be varied as desired, I have found that a pitch such that lthe parts are revolved once for every three and a quarter inches is the most satisfactory.

It is obvious that various modifications may be made in the construction shown and above particularly described with the. principle and scope of my. invention.

I claim:

1-. A bottle-capping machine comprising spinning rollers, a cooperative screw and nut adapted to rotate the spinning rollers as the screw and nut are moved rectilinearly relatively to each other, and means for thus relatively moving the screw and nut.

2. A bottle-capping machine comprising spinning rollers, a stationary screw, a cooperative nut movable rectilinearly on the screw and adapted to rotate the spinning rollers during such movement and means for rectilinearly moving the nut on the screw.

3. A bottle-capping machine comprising spinning rollers, a cooperative screw and nut movable rectilinearly relatively to each other and adapted to rotate the spinning rollers as they are so moved and to reverse the rotation as the screw and nut are reversed in cooperation, means for pressing the spinning rollers in yielding contact with the bottlehead as the nut and screw are relatively moved, and means for releasing the rollers from contact with the bottle-headat the end of such movement and before therollers are reversed.

4. A bottle-capping machine comprising spinning rollers, a stationary screw, a cooperative nut movable rectilinearly on the screw and adapted to rotate the spinning rollers during such movement, means 'for pressing the spinning rollers in yielding con-- tact with the bottle-head as the nut is moved on the screw, andmeans for releasing the rollers from contact with the bottle-head at the end of such movement.

5. In a bottle-capping machine, in combination, spinning rollers, means for "ressing the spinning rollers in contact wit the bottle-head and resilient means for releasing the spinning rollers from the bottle-head at the completion of the capping operation.

6. A bottle-capping machine comprising s innin rollers a screw a 006 'rative 7 7 screw and nut adapted to be-moved rectilinearly relativel to each other and to rotate the spinning rol ers and ress them in contact with the bottle-hea as the nut and screw are relatively moved, means for relatively moving the nut'and the screw as desired, a volute spring for releasing the'spinning rollers from the bottle-head before the rollers are reversed, and means for exerting uniformly yielding pressure on the bottle to hold the bottle in" place during the capping operation. a

. 7. In a bottle-capping machine, a spinning head comprising spinning rollers and a cooperative screw and nut adapted to'be moved relatively to each other and to rotate the spinning rollers as the screw and nut are relatively moved, and means for bringing the spinning head into contact with the bottle-head thereby relatively moving the screw and nut;

8. A bottle-capping machine comprisin spinning rollers, a cooperative screw an nut adapted to be moved rectilinearly relatively to each other and to rotate the spinning rollers as the screw and nut are so rela- 1 5 tively moved, means for pressing the spinning rollers in yielding contact with the bottle-head as the nut and screw are relatively moved, and means for releasing the rollers from contact with the bottle-head at 0 the end of such relative movement of the screw and nut.

9. In a bottle-capping machine, in combination, spinning rollers, means for actuating the spinning rollers, means for pressing the spinning rollers in contact with the bottle-head, and resilient means for releasing the spinnin rollers from the bottle-head at the completion of the capping operation.

10. In a bottle capping machine, in combination,- cap-app lying means adapted to be In testimony whereof I aflix my signature pressed into engagement with the bottle neck in presence of two witnesses.

and to apply the cap means for operating the-cap-applying means, and resilient means HERBERT MARSHALL 5 for releasing the cap-applying means from Witnesses:

the bottle head at the completion of the capi WM. ASHLEY KELLY, ping operation. BERNARD COWEN. 

